A Broken Hill councillor who was on a home-bound flight from Sydney when one of the plane’s engines stopped mid-air said it was “terrifying”, and a “big concern” following another incident with a Regional Express flight this week.<\/p>\n
Darriea Turley said she was heading back to Broken Hill on Saturday morning when passengers heard “an unusual sound” and the right engine stopped mid-air.<\/p>\n
The Broken Hill City councillor said when she looked out the window, her “heart skipped a beat”, and that the experience was “very scary” for all on board.<\/p>\n
“We heard a strange sound and a bit of a flutter, and then the engine seemed to stop,” Cr Turley said.<\/p>\n
“For those that were on the right-hand side, we could see that the blades were just going slowly around.<\/p>\n
“It took some time for the pilots to announce what was happening, and when I say ‘some time’, it was over 25 to 30 minutes.”<\/p>\n
Flight was ‘terrifying’, councillor says<\/p>\n
Cr Turley said she was “surprised” that the plane was not diverted but kept going with one engine for “about an hour and a half” to Broken Hill.<\/p>\n
She said the pilots told passengers “they’d had some practices in a simulator and were pretty confident they could get us there safely”.<\/p>\n
“If you came to me at seat 11A, I would say ‘get the plane down now’, but I’m not a pilot,” she said.<\/p>\n
“We had to then go lower to the ground to limp across and it seemed like we were flying forever with only one engine.<\/p>\n
“That was terrifying at every stage because if there was any noise you think, ‘What’s happening to the other engine?’<\/p>\n
“If you are a nervous flyer, this would have been your worst nightmare.”<\/p>\n
The plane later landed at Broken Hill Airport.<\/p>\n
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said it was aware of the incident.<\/p>\n
“An in-flight engine shutdown involving a Rex Saab 340 on a flight from Sydney to Broken Hill has been reported to the ATSB, and the ATSB is gathering further information as to the incident’s circumstances to inform an investigation decision,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Darriea Turley was on board the flight from Sydney to Broken Hill. (Supplied: Local Government Association)<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Broken Hill Council, which is responsible for the local airport, told the ABC that the Rex plane had radioed through to report that an engine had failed.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson said emergency services were called and the plane later landed without further incident.<\/p>\n
The ABC has contacted Rex, which entered administration in July last year, for comment.<\/p>\n